Tired of dull knives? Whether you need to get your carving knife ready for a Christmas turkey, or just want to have a sharp blade to reach for, join us for a hands-on session of learning with Lawrence Barichello, our knife-sharpening guru. You’ll learn about types of knives, whetstones and other equipment, sharpening techniques, and get the chance to practice on your own knives under the supervision of an expert.

This class is being offered in partnership with the City of Kamloops and will take place at the Parkview Activity Centre on Saturday, December 8. Details and registration form can be found here.

Fermentation is a great way of preserving the harvest and producing your own nutritious snacks and condiments. Have you been wanting to get in on the fermentation trend, but just haven’t gotten around to it? Or maybe you’ve dabbled at fermenting, but want to try something different? Read more

Ten people braved the smoke last night to hone their pruning skills and help repair some damaged and badly pruned trees and shrubs in the McDonald Park Public Produce Garden. Thanks to Greg Houghton for spending an evening sharing his expertise!

The social enterprise project had its first Food Literacy Workshop with the Boys and Girls Club on July 23rd, and it was a blast. Nine children from the Club tagged along with us for the day. In the morning, they helped harvest apricots, and afterwards we joined them in the kitchen. The kids pitted and cut the fruit and we used it to make a puree for dried fruit leather. While that was being made, we busted out a pedal-powered bike blender, courtesy of TRU. Everyone had a turn at the pedals making apricot and berry fruit smoothies. Once they were done having fun on the bike, the puree was ready and the kids could fill the dehydrator. I hope they liked their fruit leathers the next morning!

The project was a hit, and we’ll be returning this week for another round of fruit leather fun. Yay!

Includes 2 days in the lab at TRU, plus 1 field day collecting, identifying and photographing native bees.

Cost $145, + participants should purchase Bumble Bees of North America, by Williams et al (Princeton Press); and The Bees in Your Back yard by Wilson & Carrill (Princeton Press). These are great books for novice bee enthusiasts and exceptional references for experts.

Lincoln Best has surveyed pollinator diversity in western Canada for almost 15 years and produced new data for more than 600 species while discovering new species in Canada.

Lincoln studied Zoology and Ecology at the University of Guelph and conducted graduate research at York University on the geographical distribution and genetics of the bees of British Columbia. He has also led field teams through Central and South East Asia, observing native bees in more than 10 countries.

Lincoln is passionate about floral/ bee relationships, especially the visitors to rare and unusual flowering plants in the Southern Interior.

Lincoln Best will also be presenting a public lecture at the Big Little Science Centre, Thursday July 14th, 7:00 pm.

This presentation focuses on the ingredients that create a healthy environment for a backyard orchard – soil management, water use, tree and small fruit nutrition and organic tree fruit management. Tamara will also discuss management of specific pathogens and pests of berry crops and tree fruits.

http://kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/water-harvesting.png18952000Dave Whitinghttp://kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/KFP_logo_print_full_flat-300x180.pngDave Whiting2014-06-24 17:22:012018-05-22 04:41:48Workshop on Water Harvesting for Home and Farm Use on July 6